Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Friday, December 13, 2013

I am delighted to tell you that today marks a milestone for The Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia who will take to the stage for the 3000th performance of their wonderful black light puppetry production of The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Since 1999, their magical black light production based on my story has been performed for nearly two million people. I am honored that Mermaid Theatre has been a kind of ambassador for my books through their adaptation of The Very Hungry Caterpillar and wish to thank and congratulate all of my friends on Mermaid Theatre's remarkably creative team.

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

We are home now after two weeks in Massachusetts and New York. It was a busy and exciting time, visiting with many dear friends and making my annual appearance at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art where I signed copies of my new book Friends. Here are three sisters who came to the signing in their matching T-shirts!

Many families and visitors waited patiently in line and enjoyed activities throughout the Museum. It is always gratifying to meet readers and teachers, grandparents and local college students who grew up with or are currently enjoying my books.

From western, Massachusetts we drove to New York City for the 8th Annual Carle Honors hosted by the very entertaining and talented Angela & Tony DiTerlizzi and held in the beautiful Guastavinos space built underneath the 59th Street Bridge.

After the excitement at the Carle Honors, Bobbie and I visited with more friends in New York.

And then on Monday, I was fortunate to participate in an event at the New York Public Library with Judy Blume and Leonard Marcus (Leonard is a long time friend of the Museum).

Here I am with Judy Blume and all of the children's librarians at the New York Public Library! It was quite an honor to be there and brought us to the end of a wonderful visit.

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

When I was a young boy, leaving home to go to school was a difficult transition for me. So creating books for very young children has been particularly meaningful. I hope my books will help to bridge the world of home to the world inside the classroom and school for children. Wishing you all good beginnings of the new school year. I am grateful to the teachers who help each child make their way.

Thursday, August 8, 2013

In an earlier blog post, I shared images of posters I had designed as a young art student in Germany. I thought you might enjoy seeing a few more of these. Here I am at 20 years old when I first started to design posters for Amerika Haus.

During World War ll, German propaganda depicted the United States as a country of gangsters, chewing gum, skyscrapers and without "Kultur." All countries create propaganda that portrays the enemy in the worst way, some true, some half true and some lies. It would be an interesting lesson to compare WW ll propaganda with the reality of today: former "bad" enemies are now "good" allies, friends and trade partners!

After the war in 1945, the United States Information Service established the Amerika Haus in the larger German cities of the U.S. Zone (Germany had been divided into the U.S., British, French and Soviet Zones). The Amerika Haus, typically centrally located within each city, provided more or less a "look at the USA" and reintroduced the German people after 12 years of Nazi Dictatorship under Hitler (1933-45) to the people and culture of its former enemy. The Amerika Haus countered the negative view of the United States and the free world. It housed a library with books and magazines mostly in English, arranged discussion groups, performed plays, concerts, movies and exhibitions, for instance, a show on architecture from the United States. From time to time, the Amerika Haus arranged joint ventures with German cultural institutes (see below). The concept of the Amerika Haus was ingenious, successful and resonated with the German population eager for more contact with the outside world from which it had been isolated for many years.

From 1945 to 1949 I studied graphic design at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste (Academy of Applied Arts) in Stuttgart, Germany. I was interested in poster design. FASCHING is a student study I designed for carnival which was a music and theater festival during which regular classes were suspended.

Here I am with a group of fellow art students during carnival.

Mr. William Lovegrove, United States Cultural Attache, inquired at the Akademie whether a young student would be interested in designing posters for the events at the Amerika Haus. And that is how I, at the age of 20, became a poster designer.

My first design WESTAFRIKA IN SEINER KUNST was for a joint venture between the Amerika Haus and the local Lindenmuseum. I submitted several sketches to Mr. Lovegrove and found him to be very selective and demanding. Finally he agreed to a design which I executed as a large linoleum cut and a commercial printer printed it (very carefully! Linoleum is very soft. Printers at that time usually printed from steel plates) in an edition of 100. This design was also used for a catalog. Soon thereafter, Mr. Lovegrove asked me for another design. Remembering how particular he was, I suggested that I submit 3 sketches from which he had to choose. My professor in art school, Professor Schneidler, had impressed upon me that clients often do not know what they want and have to be told what they need. Later on, I found out that Mr. Lovegrove had studied art at the Sorbonne in Paris!

Mr. Lovegrove responded to my suggestion: "Mr. Carle, with your West Afrika poster you have shown that you are a good designer. From now on you, without my input, select the design." He told me about silk screening, of which I knew nothing and ordered from the United States inks and material necessary to print my posters. From then on, I designed and executed the posters (the total number of which I cannot remember). And when I immigrated to the U.S. in 1952, I only brought a small cardboard suitcase as I needed to be economical in what I packed. There were several more posters. But here are a few that I hope you will enjoy seeing.

AMERIKANISCHE VOLSKUNST (American Folk Art) was an interesting and unusual show of American Folk Art, and very much appreciated by the visitors.

Tennessee Williams' DIE GLAS MENAGERIE and

THE BAT a popular Broadway play at the time. Both examples from American writers/poets/playwrights.

EINFUEHRUNG IN DIE 12 TON MUSIK, INTRODUCTION TO 12 TON MUSIC reintroduced avant-garde music, created by composer Arnold Schönberg who was Jewish, which had been banned in Nazi Germany as "Degenerate Art."

MENSCH UND ARBEIT/ BETRIEB UND OEFFENTLICHKEIT, MAN AND WORK/ INDUSTRY AND PUBLICA lecture on Public Relations which had been an almost unknown concept in Germany, given by a former German prisoner of war who had been in a camp in the U.S. and while there studied this subject.

DIE GAUGLER SPIELEN PANTOMIME, TRAVELING ENTERTAINER PLAY PANTOMIMEA poster for a performance or a play, this poster was awarded "One of the 10 best posters of the year."

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Because my dear friends Barry Moser and Norton Juster are frequently mistaken for me, the staff at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art made them these T-shirts, which they wore with smiles on their faces at the Museum's 10th anniversary celebration in November.

Then, a few months later, I received a shirt in the mail from Norton Juster for me to wear at "important occasions" when I would be mistaken for him!

Friday, June 14, 2013

My father gave me very few material gifts, but the gift he gave me was that on weekend mornings, automatically, we’d go for long walks and talk with each other about all kinds of things. He truly loved me, and this I realized much, much later.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Friday, May 10, 2013

Happy Mother's Day to all! Here I am with my Mother when I was 10 years old on vacation in the Black Forest. I remember being very happy to be with my parents in the country. This photo was taken in 1939 just before the war began. It was our first and last family vacation.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

This past weekend, Bobbie and I attended the opening of the exhibit of my independent art (Art Art, as I like to call it) at the Tacoma Art Museum.

It was a wonderful time, giving a talk with Museum Director Stephanie Stebich, signing books and meeting new and old friends. I am very grateful to all at the Tacoma Art Museum where the exhibit will be on display until July 7, 2013.Photo credits: Amy Dieringer

Thursday, February 28, 2013

I am delighted to share a sneak preview of my new book FRIENDS that will be available in bookstores later this year.

FRIENDS is a story inspired by more than one friendship in my own life, one that I had as a three year old boy, as a 6 year old taken by my parents to Germany, and another as a young man when I arrived back in the United States from Germany with my portfolio in hand. That was in 1952 when Leo Lionni was so kind to me, helping me to find work as a graphic designer and became my mentor. I have always believed that friendship is very important, I know it was for me as a child and I can still remember my strong attachments and feelings for my friends when I was a boy.

I will share more news about FRIENDS closer to its publication date, but I hope you will enjoy this sneak preview of the cover illustration!

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Simplify, simplify, simplify. My aim with my work is to simplify and refine, be logical and harmonious. A number of years back, I made these metal sculptures of animals some of which have been included in the exhibit of my non-illustration art, Beyond Books: The Independent Art of Eric Carle currently at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. I believe these sculptures are examples of my approach applied to its fullest extent. The most simplified figure I have created.

About Me

The Very Hungry Caterpillar is one of the more than 70 picture books that I have written and/or illustrated. I was born in the U.S. and was raised in Germany. My background is in graphic design but since the late 1960's when I illustrated Bill Martin Jr's Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? I have been creating books for children. My illustrations are collages made with my own hand-painted tissue papers, a technique many children have replicated and enjoyed in their classrooms and at home. With my late wife Barbara, I am also the cofounder of The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA.